Bears notebook: Jay Cutler played little because of Chargers' blitz

Thursday

Aug 19, 2010 at 12:01 AMAug 19, 2010 at 7:00 PM

The biggest news to come out of Chicago’s 25-10 preseason opening loss in San Diego, other than backup Caleb Hanie’s minor shoulder injury, was that starting quarterback Jay Cutler played only eight snaps.

Matt Trowbridge

The biggest news to come out of Chicago’s 25-10 preseason opening loss in San Diego, other than backup Caleb Hanie’s minor shoulder injury, was that starting quarterback Jay Cutler played only eight snaps.

Offensive coordinator Mike Martz said the Bears just “wanted to get his feet wet,” but added he would have left Cutler in longer if San Diego hadn’t blitzed so much.

“We pulled him a little earlier than I would normally because I just wanted to make sure we were further along with what we do before we keep him in there under that kind of circumstance.”

Cutler didn’t care either way.

“It doesn’t matter,” he said. “We’ve got four preseason games. We’re had a great camp. There’s a lot of time left.

“We only got eight plays. We kept it pretty basic. We’re going to keep it pretty basic these next couple of games too.”

Cutler said practices are far more important in preparing for the season than the four preseason games.

“We’re going over every little thing for two hours,” Cutler said. “Games, you get a limited amount of reps and a limited amount of looks from a defense. Out here is where you really have got to make it happen. If we get a look out here, we’ve got to be able to recognize it and react correctly in a game.”

No extra motivation needed

Matt Gutierrez, signed Wednesday to be the Bears third quarterback while Hanie nurses a minor shoulder surgery, said he took no extra motivation in being the Bears’ fourth choice.

“I’m motivated either way,” Gutierrez said. “The opportunity to be here with the Chicago Bears is motivation enough.”

Friendly RB fight

Matt Forte said he and backup running back Chester Taylor have become good friends but joked that they fought when Chicago first signed Taylor as a free agent.

“He’s an easy guy to get along with. That makes it easy on me,” Forte said. “When he first got here, we fought and got it all over with.”

Who won?

“Of course, I did. He’s older than me, but he’s kind of like my little brother,” Forte said. “I put him in a headlock. We got all the fighting out of the way. Now we get along pretty well.”

Bears sign 2, waive 2

The Bears waived guard Vince Vance and linebacker Matt Mayberry on Wednesday to make room for Gutierrez and safety Aaron Webster. Webster is an undrafted rookie out of Cincinnati who was originally signed by Houston.

“We’re a little bit thin at the safety position.” head coach Lovie Smith said. “We needed another guy at that slot. He’ll get an opportunity to prove what he can do.”

Practice highlights

Notable moments from Wednesday’s practice included: Jay Cutler throwing the ball 70 yards in the air to Devin Hester for a touchdown. … WR Devin Hester overthrowing Johnny Knox almost 50 yards downfield out of the Wildcat formation. … Juaquin Iglesias leaping over Corey Graham to catch a short touchdown. … Devin Aromashodu turning around and getting both feet down in the corner of the end zone on a 20-yard TD catch. … Third-string QB Dan LeFevour waiting way too long before throwing a short pass over the middle that was picked off by LB Nick Roach for what would have been an interception return for a touchdown.